1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data recorder for imprinting information from a source member such as a credit card on a recording document such as a credit card transaction form. More specifically, it relates to an imprinter apparatus which utilizes a print roller traveling within a carriage over a base plate or flat bed. In such an apparatus, an imprint is made by moving the carriage and print roller over the source member and recording document in a print stroke, lifting the print roller, and moving the carriage back with a return stroke.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Imprinter products such as credit card imprinters are quite cost sensitive, and accordingly, it is desirable to keep assembly time down and to use ultra low cost components in the construction of these devices. Because of cost concerns, ultra-precise tolerances cannot be maintained in parts which are meant to work together.
One of the more time-consuming tasks in assembling existing flat bed credit card imprinters centers around the steps required to remove any play between the print carriage and the base plate on which it travels.
The usual method of fitting the print carriage to the base plate involves placing thin metal or plastic spacing washers between the print carriage wheels and the walls which project downward from the metal bed of the carriage. This method is very time consuming, and hence, costly.
Another shortcoming of presently available flat bed credit card imprinters is in the use of metal axles to carry plastic print rollers. When an imprinting stroke is made, the metal axle is acted upon in a variety of ways to cause raising and lowering of the print roller. One means for raising and lowering the print roller makes use of an inclined surface in which the metal axle is in contact with metal adjusting means. It is preferable to produce axles with flat contact surfaces; however, flat surfaces are difficult to produce in such axles, leading to metal print roller axles being typically manufactured using a turning operation to produce the inclined surfaces. The use of turned axles will result in the adjusting means contacting the axle in a line contact. The constant sliding of a metal axle against metal adjusting means also typically necessitates that these members be hardened and lubricated in order to prevent extreme wear and thus negatively affect the imprint quality. Furthermore, such a turning operation produces an area which is weakened, and which is prone to distortion during the hardening process.
This set of circumstances results in parts which are expensive to manufacture, which have limited lifetimes, and which are noisy in use since hardened metal parts are in dynamic contact with each other.
The present invention solves these and other problems associated with existing flat bed credit card imprinters.